


obligatory beach episode

by wordbending



Series: The Search for the Six Souls [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Asriel and Chara are Robots, Ensemble Cast, Fluff, Non-Verbal Frisk (Undertale), Other, POV Second Person, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, With a side of angst, because why not
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-25
Updated: 2018-09-25
Packaged: 2019-07-17 16:11:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16099169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wordbending/pseuds/wordbending
Summary: Asriel doesn't want to go to the beach. Even though, a long time ago, maybe going to the beach with Chara, exploring every single corner of the Earth with them, was everything he ever could have hoped for.But now he wonders: after everything he's done, does he even deserve it?





	obligatory beach episode

**Author's Note:**

  * For [valety](https://archiveofourown.org/users/valety/gifts).



> A fic heavily inspired by the works of [Valety](https://archiveofourown.org/users/valety/pseuds/valety), who writes incredible post-pacifist AU fics dealing with Asriel's mental health after being revived. Check them out!
> 
> This is largely fluffy, but warnings for violent, intrusive thoughts, including thoughts of death and murder.

You don’t _want_ to go to the beach.

Sure, maybe a long time ago, you would have. When you didn’t know what a beach _was,_ when everything about the Surface seemed exciting and new to you. When the idea of exploring every nook and cranny of every corner of the Earth, with Chara at your side, seemed like the best possible future you could ever wish on all the stars in Waterfall for.

But now it’s actually happening, and you don’t know what to feel about it. Sure, just a scant year ago, you wouldn’t have imagined this was _possible._ A year ago, you thought Chara was lost from you forever, and that you were doomed to be trapped, soulless, until your plant body eventually wilted away. Now you and Chara are side by side again, riding in your mom’s unnecessarily large school SUV, in metal bodies painstakingly built for you by Alphys.

You should be happy. You should be _grateful._

But you’re not.

Because you don’t deserve it.

You were never supposed to have a happy ending.

Frisk was supposed to just “live their life.” They weren’t supposed to come back and visit you, week after week, day after day. They weren’t supposed to have Chara’s revenant sharing their body with them, so that they could reunite you with the only true friend you’ve ever known, the only person you could still love. You weren’t supposed to leave the Underground, to come back to your family as “Flowey.” You weren’t supposed to have had your family, your… friends?… devise a plan to bring you and Chara back from beyond the grave.

Chara had always been the one who didn’t believe in happy endings. It was only when you lost your soul that you realized why that was. But it was Chara, ironically enough, that told you again and again that you were deserving of happiness too. That you didn’t deserve to be let go of. To be forgotten.

You wished you could believe their kind words. You wished you could believe everyone - your mother, your father, Chara, Alphys, Papyrus, Undyne, and most of all, _Frisk_ \- that claimed to have forgiven you for all the atrocities you’ve committed. Or, at least, in Sans’ case, to have given you the gift of trust that you wouldn’t do those things again.

But you can’t trust yourself not to do those things again, much less forgive yourself. You feel like a ticking time bomb, ready to go off at any second. You can’t be trusted around other people. You can’t be trusted to have friends. You can’t be trusted to have Frisk or Chara by your side. You can’t…

“We are here, my children,” says your mother’s voice, snapping you out of your thoughts. Well, nothing to do about it now. You’re at the beach whether you want to be or not.

“Yo! Unbuckle me, unbuckle me!” chirps Monster Kid from in front of you, bouncing in their seat. They’re wearing a yellow and brown striped sundress and Frisk’s big brown sunhat. “This is gonna be the _best day ever!”_

You hear Frisk giggling from the seat next to them. They’re wearing a blue and purple striped one-piece, big heart-shaped sunglasses, and a pink tutu, while slowly waving their body left and right in a rhythm only they know.

“Frisk,” says your mother, “could you be a dear and let M.K. out?”

Frisk nods and unbuckles their seatbelt. They climb out of their seat, unbuckle Monster Kid’s seatbelt, and open the door - Monster Kid immediately jumps out, trips, and falls flat on their face on the hard asphalt. No worse for wear, they immediately jump up and race towards the beach.

“Hurry up, hurry up!” Monster Kid shouts over their non-existent shoulder.

Toriel, who has popped open the trunk and began to take various supplies out, yells over to them, “Just a moment, my child! Do not be running off unsupervised!”

Neither you nor Chara have moved, not even to take your seatbelts off. Frisk stares at you both expectantly, their expression as unreadable as ever. Some things never change, even after a whole year.

 _Are you OK?_ they sign eventually.

“No, my dear Frisk, I am not _okay,”_ says Chara, crossing their segmented gray arms over their chest. As usual, and as you’re more than used to, they smile as they say it. “We have a pool at the hotel. There is _air conditioning_ at the hotel. This is patently ridiculous.”

 _Noted,_ signs Frisk, before turning to you. They make the signs for “goat” and “kid.” _Asriel, are_ you _OK?_

 _No,_ you think.

“Huh? Me?” you say, grinning and scratching the back of your head. You know how people expect you to act, the dumb oblivious kid routine, and you’d like to think you’ve gotten better and better at the performance. “Why would I _not_ be OK? Haha.”

 _Because you haven't said anything the whole ride here,_ signs Frisk.

You sigh. Of course Frisk would see right through that.

You lower your voice so your mother won’t hear.

“Chara’s right,” you say. “This is _stupid.”_

“Finally, _someone_ agrees with me,” says Chara.

 _It’s not stupid,_ signs Frisk. _It’s_ fun. _And you need to get outside more._

“Why?” you say, before bumping a fist against your chest. It makes a _clang_ sound. “We’re robots. It’s not like we need fresh air.”

 _Everyone needs fresh air,_ signs Frisk. _Unless you’re Undyne, I guess._

As if on cue, a blue-skinned woman in a yellow bikini suddenly bursts through the door, grinning at Frisk with yellow teeth the size of Frisk’s entire arm.

“Heya, squirt! What’s taking so long?!”

Frisk immediately wraps their arms around Undyne’s neck and pulls her into a hug.

“Awwww! I like you too, kid!”

Frisk breaks away from the hug to sign, _Where’s Alphys?,_ signing the signs for “smart” and “lady.”

“Alphy? She’s with Asgore,” Undyne says. “You know, now that I think about it, I probably shouldn’t have left her alone with him… I think she _still_ has a crush on that guy. Uh, be right back!”

And Undyne leaves. Frisk waves goodbye at her.

“Oh, Undyne!” says your mother’s voice. “Could you be a sweetheart and help me carry these?”

“Er,” says Undyne. “Of course! Anything for you, your majesty!”

“Oh, you know you do not need to call me that anymore…”

Neither you nor Chara have moved still. Frisk makes a rare frown.

“Children!” your mother calls out. “I do not wish to rush you, but I simply must insist you come with me!”

 _Please?_ signs Frisk, their eyes big and watery. _Just this once?_

You clench your eyes shut. You half-expected Frisk to make an ultimatum, like “I’m leaving with or without you,” but it’s _so much worse_ when they beg. You can’t possibly say no to Frisk making puppy dog eyes at you.

“Fine,” you say, unbuckling your seatbelt and standing up. “Come on, Chara.”

“I suppose I don’t have any say in the matter,” Chara sighs melodramatically. “Coming, _dear._ ”

“Don’t call me that,” you say.

Frisk only smiles softly, although whether it’s at you and Chara’s married-couple-esque bickering or the fact you finally agreed to cooperate, you can’t tell. They sign _Thanks!_

When you emerge from the car, you see Monster Kid waiting impatiently at the entrance to the beach, yelling for everyone to hurry up. You see Toriel and Undyne carrying a ludicrous amount of supplies, from towels to coolers, without looking like either of them are even remotely strained. You see Papyrus at his car, wearing sunglasses, swim trunks, and a brightly-colored Hawaiian shirt that says “BEACH GIRL BOY PAPYRUS”, and Sans by his bike, having not changed outfits at all. You see Asgore walking side-by-side with Gerson and Alphys, who is blushing profusely and stammering something to him while he smiles politely. And you see Mettaton and Napstablook emerging from a limo, Mettaton in a golden speedo and Napstablook having cried themself a beach hat.

So, in other words, the whole gang's here. Great. You won’t even get to enjoy some alone time with Chara. Not that you were, uh, particularly looking forward to the idea of spending alone time with Chara or anything. Not that alone time with Chara is a rare gift that you treasure more than solid gold.

OK, fine, you’re in love with Chara and kind of wanted this to be a date. You’re mature enough to admit that you wanted to date them. Just not to their face.

But when Chara offers their weird robot hand to you, you take it in your weird robot paw. You don't even care who sees - you and Chara holding hands isn't anything anyone's not used to anyway. Especially not your parents.

“Are you ready, kids?” says Undyne.

Frisk salutes. Chara rolls their eyes.

“Aye aye, captain!” you shout, because damn it, _someone's_ going to have fun today. It makes Frisk giggle and your mother laugh, which makes you feel a tiny little warmth in the depths of your artificial soul.

“That's the spirit, kid!” Undyne shouts back, grinning, before she starts jogging towards Monster Kid. “Let's go!”

* * *

You decide you hate sand. It's coarse and rough and it gets everywhere, but it's also _enormously_ hard to walk in when you weigh several hundred pounds. It's like trudging through mud.

When your father sees you and Chara struggling, he offers to pick you both up and carry you to where Toriel is setting up the towels. With a laugh, you politely refuse, because the idea of your father having to carry you is _so embarrassing._ But your father insists, and before you know it, you and Chara are both being lifted under your father's massive, tree trunk arms.

“My, my,” he says as even _he_ struggles to carry the both of you. “You two certainly have… put on weight.”

Chara groans.

“Very funny, Dad,” you say flatly.

* * *

Eventually, you make it to the beach proper, in a nice secluded area where nobody will ogle monsters or robots or robot monsters. You lay down on a Mew Mew Kissy Cutie brand towel in nothing but your swim trunks, letting the sun warm your… circuits, you guess.

You'll never get used to this robot body, but the approximation of warmth is… kind of nice.

Chara sits on a plain towel next to yours, wearing a white two-piece with a large frill around the neck. They have huge novelty sunglasses on and are reading a book - _Death in Midsummer and Other Stories -_ that they've probably read a thousand times before.

You hear Frisk and Monster Kid giggling in the distance. You can't see them, but they're probably building sand castles.

“What’re you reading?” you say to Chara eventually, wanting to make small talk without really being sure how.

“Nothing I haven't read a thousand times before,” they reply without looking your direction. _Called it,_ you think.

“You're bored, huh?” you say.

“Immeasurably.”

“Me too.”

“Good for you.”

You frown. This wasn't how you were expecting this “date” to go, but you don't know what else to say. _Sure is great we’re alive! And not dead!_

Suddenly, though, you get a great idea.

“Did you put sunscreen on?” you say, trying to hide your excitement.

“I'm under an umbrella,” Chara replies instantly. “And, more importantly, I'm a _robot.”_

“Well, uh, yeah, but the sun's probably bad for your… um… paint… job?” you try. “Yeah! You'll get all crackly or melt or something!”

“And you think… sunscreen will help with this?”

You nod vigorously. “Uh-huh!”

“Fine,” Chara says. They set their book aside, take off their novelty sunglasses, and lay across the towel, on their stomach.

You go over to one of the nearby supply baskets and take out a bottle of SPF-300 sunscreen. That seems a little excessive to you - not that you know much of anything about sunscreen - but maybe it's for monsters like Undyne.

You try to ignore the way your soul is pounding as you squirt the sunscreen onto your palm and lather it up. There’s something strangely… intimate about this, something you're glad your parents aren't around to see. Chara just waits patiently as you approach them with the sunscreen.

“Ready?” you say.

“Go ahead.”

You press your metallic paws against the small of their back, the place between their shoulders and their hips, and feel the sunscreen _squelch._ You half-expect Chara to squirm, but they don't.

It's… not as fun as you imagined. Rather than the soft, rubbery flesh their back has been painted to look like, you just feel hard, cold metal beneath your fingers. You rub the sunscreen in anyway.

“How's that feel, Chara?” you say.

“Disgusting,” they reply, in a tone that suggests they don't actually want you to stop. You continue rubbing in the sunscreen.

Next, you move up to the back of their neck, the part not covered by the frill. You lightly rub your hands around the cool metal of their neck.

You suddenly, abruptly think of how easy it’d be to strangle them. Sure, they might not have lungs or need to breathe, but if you just _squeezed…_

You flinch at your own thoughts. You're not supposed to think those things about Chara. That you think them about everyone else is bad enough, but Chara… you _love_ Chara. You shouldn't want to hurt them. You’re not like that anymore.

Right?

“Any time now, Ree,” they say, and you’re immensely grateful to be snapped out of those thoughts. You continue rubbing their neck with sunscreen.

Once you're finished with their neck, you move onto their legs. This is somehow worse. Holding hands is one thing, but touching their legs…

You feel weird. You feel like a sicko, even more than you normally do. The magic that your soul continues to pump through your metal body is flowing absurdly fast.

It's just sunscreen, you remind yourself, trying to stay calm. Nothing to get worked up over.

With unsteady hands, you start to apply the sunscreen to Chara's legs. Like before, it isn't what you might have been hoping for - their legs are just as cold and metallic as the rest of them. It's almost a relief.

“Are you done?” says Chara.

“Yeah,” you reply.

“Good. Now do the other side.”

Chara flips onto their back, like a robot pancake. They take just one look at you… and immediately start giggling their high-pitched giggle.

“W-what?” you stammer.

“You're blushing!” they say, wiping tears from their eyes. “I didn't even know you _could_ blush!”

You glare at them, which you know from experience makes you _more_ adorable, and sure enough, their giggling becomes even louder.

“Come here, dork,” they say, before they sit up and wrap their arms around your neck. They pull you over them, until your bare, furry chest is pressed against their bare, metal one. Before you can react, and sure you're blushing even more deeply, they plant a tiny kiss to your lips.

It's not the same as before, when you were kids. Their lips are cold and metallic too, and so are yours. But you blush all the same, stammering as you try to find words.

“I'll do my own sunscreen... before you, I don't know, overheat or something,” Chara says. “Go play with Frisk and M.K.”

You nod and get up. Hoping your blush isn't too obvious, you trudge over to join Frisk and Monster Kid.

* * *

Unexpectedly, Frisk and Monster Kid aren't playing with sandcastles. Instead, they're playing a game where they each bury the other in sand, up to their neck. Monster Kid is the one buried when you approach, and Frisk is tickling their exposed feet, making them squeal with laughter.

It's adorable. You don't want to interrupt.

But, the next thing you know, Frisk has literally dragged you over to them and you're being buried, and buried, and buried, until only your head sticks out of a mountain of sand.

“He is the sand guardian!” shouts Monster Kid, doing a little dance around you. “Guardian of the sand!”

“Poseidon quivers before him!” Frisk joins in, surprising the both of you.

You know you need to say something too, but you're not sure what until you see the wave rolling in, encroaching on your sand mountain.

“FUCK OFF!” you scream as the wave retreats. Frisk gasps, covering their mouth, and Monster Kid cheers.

You feel a little better.

* * *

Once you’ve “escaped” from the sand mountain, by which you mean Frisk and M.K. have let you go, you see your mother walking along the beach. She's carrying a plastic bucket, which she's using to carry seashells.

You decide to join her.

“Oh, dearest one,” she says, looking surprised to see you. “I thought you would be playing with the other children…”

“I’m not a little kid anymore, Mom,” you say, although you realize saying that makes you sound more like a little kid than ever.

“Ah, of course,” she says. She reaches out and ruffles the tuft of fur on the top of your head, between your budding horns. “You have become very grown up, Asriel.”

You don’t feel very convinced.

“Would you like to help me collect seashells?” your mother asks, as she leans down, picks one up, and places it into the bucket.

“Sure, mom,” you say, and you pick up the first seashell you see. There’s nothing special about it - it looks like all the other seashells around it, and it’s chipped and broken on top of that. But your mother happily accepts it anyway.

“They are such fascinating things, are they not?” she says as she takes the seashell, smiling. Her smile, for once, doesn’t remind you of all the _other_ times you saw her smile - tear-filled smiles as she died at your hands. Smiles that were far too wide and desperate, with pupils small and dilated, as she struggled to understand why you betrayed her.

For once, it makes you feel a warmth in your soul, artificial as it is. You almost believe you could love your mother again.

Almost.

“It has been thousands of years since I last saw a seashell,” your mother continues as she walks further down the beach, picking up a large conical shell and placing it into her bucket. “I missed them dearly - they are so unique. Did you know a certain type of snail makes their home in these shells? I thought that was interesting.”

You don’t really find it that interesting, but you like hearing your mother talk. You pick up another white shell, this one beautiful, spiral-shaped, and fully intact, almost without thinking about it.

“Very beautiful, dearest one! An excellent find,” your mother says, as she takes the shell and places it into her bucket. “Did you know that humans have a saying about seashells?”

You aren’t familiar with it. “What is it?”

“Ah, I believe it’s… ‘Sally sells seashells by the seashore,” she says, then squints. “I do not know what it means. Perhaps it is actually some sort of myth.”

“Oh,” you say. “It’s a tongue twister.”

“A… ‘tongue twister’?”

“Um, Chara taught me,” you say, as you pick up another seashell, one whose shape reminds you of some of the monsters you used to see in Waterfall. “You’re supposed to say it over and over, really fast. Like…” You start to say it as quickly as you can. “Sally sells seashells by the seashore, Sally sells seashells by the sea sore, Shelly salls seasells by the sea… ugh.”

You laugh softly.

“See? It’s really hard.”

Your mother chuckles.

“Perhaps I will have to try. Ahem.” She raises her free paw to her chest. “Sally sells seashells by the seashore, Sally sells seashells by the seashore, Sally sells seashells by the seashore…”

You clap. You’re genuinely impressed. “Wow, Mom, great job!”

“Thank you! Now you try.”

And, for the next hour, the two of you continue walking along the beach, collecting seashells and practicing tongue twisters until your throat is sore.

* * *

Eventually, the bucket is more than full of seashells, and to tell the truth, you’re a little bored of hanging out with your mother. So you go to find someone else to spend some time with, because it’s not like you have anything better to do.

You find Alphys and Undyne sitting not on the beach, but on a boardwalk overlooking the beach. Alphys is playing some kind of portable video game and Undyne is sitting a few feet away, absently kicking her feet.

You don’t know how you feel about Undyne and Alphys. You know Chara admires Undyne greatly, but all you can think of when you see her is how much of a _problem_ she was, almost as much as the smiley trashbag. She was fun to torture, though, and it was so easy to do - all you had to do was hurt her friends, or even better, hurt _Alphys…_

“Heya, sport!” Undyne shouts over the guilt roiling in where you stomach would be, and Alphys looks up and smiles.

You can’t believe how friendly the two of them are with you, after what you did. Sure, Undyne might not remember _everything_ you did, but you still tried to murder her and her girlfriend. You almost drove Alphys to suicide. You’re sick and evil, a monster in every sense of the word. And yet they treat you like any other friend. It’s... weird.

“Howdy,” you say to Undyne, hoping your thoughts aren’t visible on your face. You plop down in the sand, crosslegged. “What’re you doing?”

“Ah, you know, just relaxing,” says Undyne, grinning. “I think I’m gonna go for a swim later, but right now? It’s all about me and Alphys. Girlfriend time!”

That brings a blush to Alphys’ face, predictably, and Alphys adjusts her glasses. She looks down at you, but she can’t quite meet your eyes. She’s never been able to, not when you were Flowey and not now.

“Er, uh, h-how’s… how’s your body feeling, Asriel?” she stammers.

“Heavy,” you say. “Can you, uh, make it lighter? Or something?”

“C-certainly!” she says, smiling softly but still not meeting your eyes. “Your body’s like M-Mettaton’s, in a lot of ways. It’s m-made from a number of heavy m-materials - steel and titanium, mostly - but it’s a-also formed of lightweight m-maginium alloys of my own d-design, the p-p-properties of which are not yet well u-understood…”

You have no idea what she’s talking about. Undyne, though, is listening rapturously.

“A-anyway!” Alphys continues. “The point is, with further r-research, I could f-further develop m-maginium to potentially r-replace the heavier steel, and that would make you and Chara’s b-bodies _much_ lighter.”

“You’re such a nerd, Alphy!” says Undyne, grinning.

Alphys blushes deeper, but she gives a smile that, for her, might even be called ‘smug.’ “S-sure am!”

“I love it!” says Undyne, throwing her arms around Alphys’ neck. Alphys’ whole body turns crimson.

You stare at them. You don’t really care one way or the other about their public displays of affection, you think. You’re probably supposed to find it “cute” or “adorable,” but you don’t. It kind of reminds you of your now divorced parents (and reminds you of how that was entirely _your fault),_ but you don’t really hold that against them either.

It doesn’t make you angry.

It doesn’t make you want to rip them apart, just to see what would happen.

It definitely doesn’t.

But you still want to change the subject, and it’s been a while since you and Alphys talked, so you say, “Er, any luck finding the other humans?”

Alphys’ blush fades. She frowns, looking down towards the ground, and starts to wring her claws together. “N-no. I’m w-working on a d-device that can trace their s-soul signatures, but it’s… it’s h-hard. I… I’m not as good a scientist as Dr. Gaster, and ever since King Asgore f-fired me…”

She reaches up and rubs at her eyes, knocking her glasses askew.

You stand up, alarmed. You weren’t expecting her to cry. This was supposed to be a good, happy day, in spite of your misgivings, and the last thing you want to do is ruin it for her.

Quickly, you take her claws in your paws and smile up at her. She blinks down at you.

“You’re an incredible scientist!” you say, in the most positive, cheerful voice you can muster. “You built me and Chara these bodies - that’s _amazing_ , Dr. Alphys! You’ve given me and Chara so much!”

“But…” she says, her shoulders slumping. “Your bodies… they could be so much _better…”_

You shake your head.

“Don’t talk like that,” you say gently, rubbing her claws. “If it wasn’t for you, Chara wouldn’t be alive and I’d still be… you know. It’s thanks to your hard work that we got this chance.”

Alphys lets out a deep sigh, but she gives you a tiny smile. “Y-you’re right. Thank you, Asriel.”

Undyne has been staring at you both, but she takes the opportunity to lean over and plant a kiss on Alphys’ cheek. Alphys’ eyes go wide, her entire body turning red from the tips of her clawed feet to the feathers on top of her head, and she flops over onto the ground.

Undyne laughs uproariously, slamming her fist into the boardwalk until it breaks through the concrete, sending chunks of it flying in every direction.

You smile at them, even though you aren’t really feeling like anything you said is actually true.

“I’m going to... go now,” you say, rather awkwardly, before you start walking away.

“Hey, wait for me!” Undyne says. She easily picks a still-blushing Alphys off the ground and hops off the boardwalk, kicking up a cloud of sand when she lands. Then she just as effortlessly picks _you_ up, much to your chagrin. The next thing you know, she’s jumped hundreds of feet into the air, the wind whipping through your fur. “It’s almost time for the barbecue!”

* * *

In mere seconds, you, Undyne, and Alphys have landed in front of a char-broiled portable grill, in front of which sits Papyrus and Asgore. They’re both wearing pink aprons, while Papyrus holds a lighter. Surrounding them is everyone else, except Napstablook and Mettaton, who you guess are eating ghost sandwiches.

“B-barbecue?” you say, dazed.

“Hell yeah! I mean, _heck_ yeah!” says Undyne, sitting an equally dazed Alphys down. “I know you robots don’t need to eat, but us regular folks do! Uh, no offense.”

“I’m not offended,” you mumble.

“ _I_ am,” says Chara, plopping down next to you. “You have any idea what kind of personal hell it is for me that I can’t eat chocolate?”

“Well, a-actually, I’ve been developing e-eating and t-taste capabilities for your bodies…” Alphys says. “The only p-problem is, er, what happens to the food _afterwards…”_

Chara makes a face. “Disgusting.”

“But I t-think with a p-proper digestion system,” Alphys adds quickly. “I can m-metabolize the food instantly into m-magical energy!”

“That’d be really cool, Dr. Alphys,” you say, smiling at her. You _would_ like to be able to eat again.

“YOU KNOW WHAT ELSE IS ‘COOL’?” says Papyrus, squinting down at the charcoal grill. There’s no flame at all. “THIS GRILL. BECAUSE IT’S NOT HOT.”

“That’s because you haven’t put enough charcoal in it, _dummy!”_ Undyne shouts. She takes the nearby bag of charcoal and dumps the entire thing onto the grill.

“Er, I don’t think…” says Asgore. Toriel looks alarmed.

“And you need more lighter fluid!” says Undyne, grabbing the bottle of lighter fluid before anyone can stop her. She unscrews the top and dumps the entire contents of the bottle onto the coals…

And it immediately creates a searing wall of flame, which stretches up and up and up, into the sky.

“YEAH!!! NOW WE’RE TALKING!!!” screams Undyne.

You scream too, tightly clutching Chara’s hands as you back away from the wall of fire. Chara and Frisk just stare at it. Gerson laughs his head off.

“Yo!” says Monster Kid, the flames dancing in their eyes. “This is _awesome!”_

“It is n-not awesome!” Alphys says, sliding her hands down her face. “We’re all… we’re all going to _die!_ ”

“We will not perish!” Toriel says, her paws glowing with magical energy. The giant tower of flame begins to shrink, bit by bit. “I have things well in hand!”

“i, for one, welcome our fiery overlords,” Sans says. “i vote we just cook with this thing.”

“Me too, yo!” says Monster Kid.

“I vote against,” says Gerson dryly.

“ _Me too!”_ you shout. Your body may be fireproof, but your _fur_ definitely isn’t. You continue to clutch Chara’s hands, while Chara continues staring at the fire like they’ve never seen a fire before.

Toriel continues trying to quell the flames, but the tower continues to burn, belching out an enormous cloud of black smoke. She looks exhausted.

“I… hate to ask this, but… Asgore, a little help?” she says. Asgore, who has been looking panicked the entire time, seems grateful to be asked for help, even begrudgingly. He stands up and raises his paws, and the tower of flame shrinks more and more, until it’s a relatively miniscule flame, contained in the charcoal grill.

“Aww,” sighs Monster Kid.

“You can let go of my hands now,” says Chara, staring at you. You realize you’re still clutching their hands. Normally, you’d just let go of them sheepishly, but...

“I thought you _liked_ holding hands,” you tease quietly, and a slight blush creeps up Chara’s face.

“Oh, feeling sassy today, Asriel?” they tease back just as quietly, returning to their usual smug smile. But you can feel everyone staring at the two of you, so you let go of their hands.

“At any rate, it’s time to start the burgers,” says Asgore, opening a cooler and taking some frozen patties out. He looks towards Toriel, who squints at him. “Er, my culinary abilities may not be up to cooking pies, but I assure you, I make - what is it they say - ah, yes. A mean burger.”

“Can’t be worse than Mettaton’s,” says Gerson. “Wa ha ha!”

About a half an hour later, the entire group has been served burgers. Most of them are normal, but Sans liberally drowns his with ketchup and Papyrus makes a smiley face on his patty out of mustard. Monster Kid has to be fed theirs by Frisk, but neither of them seems to mind. Frisk is smiling, even. The two of them are so cute.

You spend the entire time thinking that your dad’s burgers look delicious, and about how much you’d love to eat one. You can just imagine making a mess on your fur. Maybe you could ask Chara to clean it off for you, and they’d look at you funny but shrug their shoulders and kiss you on the cheek…

“Well, er, how is it...?” asks Asgore, snapping you out of your reverie. He’s ostensibly speaking to the crowd but - very transparently - mostly towards Toriel.

“Adequate,” says Toriel, without looking at him.

“Ah, well,” says Asgore, looking disappointed. “I suppose that is good enough. Would anyone like some tea?”

* * *

Once everyone’s finished with the burgers, Undyne is almost too eager to fish a volleyball net out of the supplies and set it up for you all to play. You split up into two teams - Asgore, Undyne, Papyrus, and you on one team, Toriel, Mettaton, Frisk, and Sans on the other team. Asgore and Undyne go first, alongside Toriel and Mettaton. Napstablook serves as a begrudging referee, while everyone else cheers on from the sidelines.

“Now, this is just a friendly neighborhood game,” says Asgore. “And there are children playing. Let’s all have fun here.”

“Fun? _Fun?”_ scoffs Mettaton. “I’m going to _decimate you.”_

“We’ll see who’s decimating who, punk!” screams Undyne, flexing her sizable muscles. “NGAAAAH!”

“um......” says Napstablook. “toriel’s team won the coin toss, so they go first..... i guess.....”

Toriel cracks her neck and lifts the ball. “Certainly.”

Expertly, she hits it from the underside with her palm, sending it over the net towards Asgore. Asgore, the wall of fur that he is, easily meets the ball and sends it lazily flying back up towards her. Toriel is more than ready - she jumps into the air and _slams_ it down towards Undyne.

“You’re going to have to try harder than _that!”_ Undyne shouts. There’s almost an aura of strength around her as she returns the ball with what seems to be all her power, and the ball goes flying thousands of feet into the air until it disappears from sight.

“I’ve got this,” Mettaton says smugly. Staring at where the ball went, he stretches both his arms out, and out, and out, until there’s the sound of him punting the ball out of the air. It careens back down to Earth like a meteor… and slaps against Asgore’s bare chest, where it falls to the ground.

“um....... point for toriel’s team,” says Napstablook.

“What?!” shouts Undyne. “That was totally cheating!”

“oh.......” says Napstablook, disappearing from sight. “was it...... i’m sorry......”

“Undyne! You’re making them feel bad!” Alphys shouts back from a nearby chair. “There’s nothing in the rules that says you can’t stretch your arms a hundred meters!”

Napstablook reappears with the rule book floating in front of them. “yeah..... I checked the rules..... sorry”

“Alphys!” shouts Undyne. “You’re supposed to be on my side! You’re my girlfriend!”

Alphys blushes. “Sorry…”

“oh no...... a couple’s argument.....” says Napstablook, disappearing again.

When Napstablook eventually returns, you and Papyrus switch with Asgore and Undyne, and Sans and Frisk switch with Toriel and Mettaton.

“Not that I care,” says Undyne, chin in her hands as she looks at the two teams. “But this doesn’t really seem, uh, fair? Frisk is a little kid and Sans is the laziest skeleton in the world.”

Sans winks. “but you’ve only met two skeletons.”

“Yeah, and you’re the laziest one!”

Napstablook says, “papyrus’ team goes first...”

“PREPARE TO GET… ‘SERVED!’” says Papyrus, throwing the ball into the air and slapping it down with his glove. It flies towards Sans…

And plops into the ground at his feet. He doesn’t move an inch.

Frisk stares at him.

“what?” says San, shrugging at them. “were you expecting me to play my theme music and show off my top-secret volleyball skills?”

You’re very confused. Was anyone expecting that...?

“frisk, um... it’s your turn to serve” says Napstablook.

“Go, Frisk! You can do it!” shouts Monster Kid.

“Knock them dead!” shouts Chara.

Frisk gives them both a small smile. They take the ball out from in front of Sans and serve it underhand. It lazily flies toward you and not Papyrus, and having never played volleyball before, you run back and forth trying to find the right spot to hit it back from. You barely manage to knock it into the air, but you underestimate the strength of your stupid robot body. To your surprise, the volleyball _rockets_ towards Frisk.

Frisk moves _incredibly_ fast. One second, they’re looking at you, and the next second, they’ve leaped into the air in front of the ball’s trajectory. There’s an almost frightening glint in their eyes as they slam their tiny fists into the ball, sending it flying back towards you. You duck as it flies over your head. Papyrus just stares at it.

“Holy shit!” shouts Undyne.

“Undyne!” says Toriel. “There are children present!”

“There are _volleyball prodigies_ present!” Undyne replies. “That was freaking amazing, Frisk! Do it again!”

“I’M UNSURE IF I WANT TO PLAY THIS ANYMORE,” says Papyrus, squinting at Frisk.

* * *

You continue playing. Thanks entirely to Frisk, the opposing team wins two sets, while your team only wins one.

Once the game is over, everyone who played is sweating and exhausted, except for you (because of your convenient robot body) and Sans (who never actually did anything). Everyone takes a rest to drink some of your father’s tea, except for you and Chara, since neither of you can drink.

Chara lays their head against your shoulder and you look out at the ocean with them. The sun is starting to set, painting the sky orange, but it’s still plenty bright out.

“Want to go swimming?” you say suddenly to Chara.

“No,” Chara says instantly.

“Aww,” you reply. “Why not? It’ll be fun!”

“No. It won’t be.”

You give them a playful shove, grinning at them. They seem unamused. You say, “What are you, scared? It’s just water!”

“I’m not _scared,”_ says Chara.

“Then come on and swim with me! Don’t tell me you’re chicken!”

“You don’t even know what a chicken _is!”_

“Sure I do!” you say. You stand up and begin your best imitation of a chicken, clapping your hands, spinning in circles, and going “Ca-caw! Ca-caw!”

“ _Chickens don’t clap!”_

“You would know, chicken!”

Chara stands up, glaring at you. Before you can react, they take off their locket, throw it to the ground, and start running towards the water. Immediately, you take off your own locket and give chase, laughing as you follow them.

You hear, far away, Alphys screaming something, but you ignore her.

Chara takes a running leap into the water, pulling their knees up to their chest. You jump in after them, spreading out your arms for a full-body splash into the water.

And, as soon as you hit it, you realize the problem. You weigh at least five-hundred pounds and are made almost entirely of metal. You sink to the bottom of the ocean like a rock.

Chara sits on the ocean floor, crosslegged, their arms over their chest.

“This is stupid,” they say. Bubbles rise from their mouth and float up to the surface.

“Yeah,” you agree.

* * *

“Good evening, ladies, gentleladies, and not-ladies!” Mettaton announces. “Our DJ, DJ NAPSTABLOOK22, and I, Mettaton, are your hosts for this _impromptu beach dance-off!”_

Napstablook plays some very weird, spooky-sounding music over the set of giant speakers they’ve brought with them. Mettaton doesn’t seem to care - he steps forward and swings his arm out in front of himself before strutting around the stage.

You and Chara don’t mind the weird music either. Neither do Monster Kid or Frisk, who are dancing frenetically together. Undyne doesn’t mind it either, although she’s not so much “dancing” as “lifting Alphys into the air and spinning around.” You don’t even mind that your mother and father, who would normally be dancing together, are as far apart from each other as possible - Toriel dancing by herself and Asgore sitting in a chair next to Gerson and drinking tea.

All you care about is Chara. You try not to blush as you hold their waist, remembering how you used to dance when you were kids. You always imagined you’d be doing it in suits, not a pair of swimming trunks and a two-piece bathing suit, but you can deal with that. Even if it does make you feel pretty naked.

You continue dancing long into the evening, waltzing even though the music is far from appropriate for a waltz and Mettaton keeps talking to the crowd about something or other. You don’t care. In fact, you take your locket out and open it, letting it play its quiet, haunting melody, barely audible over all the noise. You and Chara’s song.

You want to kiss Chara again. You don’t even care all that much if everyone sees.

So you do it. You lean down and plant a kiss on their lips, tightly holding their waist. They seem surprised for a moment, but then they lean into the kiss and kiss you back. It’s cold and metallic, like before, but it fills your artificial soul with a warmth that could outshine the sun.

In spite of everything, every bit of rage and guilt that bubbles inside you every moment of every day, you think it was a good day.

You think you might just even be... happy.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to my friends Willow and Ivy for giving me feedback on this fic!


End file.
